Optimal Labor Positions for a Shorter and Easier Birth

Pregnancy Podcast

Vanessa Merten

Newborn, Parent, Homebirth, Vbac, Kids & Family, Doula, Firsttimemom, Midwife, Pregnancy, Doctor, Parenting, Pregnant, Vanessamerten, Physician, Csection, Prenatalcare, Breastfeeding, Naturalbirth, Nursing, Birthcenter, Family, Baby, Hospitalbirth, Health, Obgyn, Research, Trimester, Expecting, Labor, Mom, Diet, Dad, Birth

4.5 • 948 Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For most of human history, a mother in labor was free to move around and change positions at will, with the most common positions being upright. In the mid-1600s, obstetricians started putting mothers on their backs. Thankfully, in recent years, more evidence has supported allowing a mother to choose the positions in which she labors. How your body is positioned during labor can significantly impact the discomfort of contractions, your baby’s ability to descend, the likelihood of some interventions, and even the length of your labor. Learn what positions are most helpful in specific labor stages, tools to make positions easier, and how to modify positions when birth interventions affect your mobility.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to the pregnancy podcast with Vanessa Merton.
0:07.0	Hello and thank you for tuning into the pregnancy podcast. In today's episode
0:16.2	we're talking about the optimal positions for a shorter and easier birth. So for
0:22.0	most of history a mother was free to move around and
0:24.9	change positions at will and the most common position that women were
0:29.5	birthing in was being upright. In the mid-1600s that changed when obstetricians started putting
0:36.0	mothers on their backs. Thankfully, in recent years there's been a lot more evidence that
0:41.6	supports allowing a mother to choose the positions that she
0:45.0	labors in. How your body's position during labor can have a significant impact on the discomfort
0:52.2	of contractions and how you're managing that, your baby's ability
0:56.1	to descend, the likelihood of some interventions, and even the length of your labor.
1:02.0	Today we're going to cover what positions are the best for each
1:06.2	stage of labor. We're going to talk about tools that make positions easier and how you can modify
1:12.4	positions when you're dealing with some birth
1:14.8	interventions that can limit your mobility. You can find the complete article and
1:19.9	all of the resources for this episode at pregnancy podcast.com slash labor positions.
1:28.8	Right now you're listening to the public feed of the podcast, so you have access to the last year of episodes. You can become
1:35.9	a pregnancy podcast premium member and get access to the entire back catalog. That's over 200 episodes exclusively available in the
1:45.3	premium feed. All of that content is ad free. Plus when you sign up you're going to
1:50.6	get a copy of the Your Birth Plan book and right now you can try pregnancy
1:55.8	podcast premium for free for seven days.
1:59.3	To check that out go to pregnancy podcast
	...

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